554 



TEMPERATURE. 



meeting of the American temperance society in 

 1829, a resolution was adopted, declaring it to be 

 the duty of every professor of religion to exert his 

 influence towards abolishing the uae of ardent 

 spirits ; and the form of a constitution for auxiliary 

 societies, appended to the report of that year, in- 

 cludes provision for a mutual pledge similar to that 

 of the Andover association. 



The reformation, of which the example was thus 

 set, found its way, in good time, to Europe. In 

 the latter part of 1829 or 1830, the first temper- 

 ance society in the old world was formed at New 

 Ross, in Ireland, and, before the close of this latter 

 year, there were societies in Ireland and Scotland, 

 numbering more than 14,000 members. Applica- 

 tions were also made from Switzerland and Sweden 

 for the society's publications, with a view to make 

 them the basis of similar movements in those coun- 

 1 ri,-i. In June, 1831, a general society was formed in 

 London under the name of the British and Foreign 

 Temperance Society. The success of the English 

 societies has not been so great as in the United 

 States perhaps because the evil to be arrested was 

 not so general. The number of members belonging 

 to Temperance Societies in England and Wales, 

 according to the " British and Foreign Temperance 

 Herald" for February, 1835, is 106,945. The So- 

 ciety is making considerable exertions to increase 

 this number; and, from a document in the same 

 publication, we perceive that 2326 adhered to the 

 temperance plan in the month of January. In 

 Lancashire there are 29,198 members; Yorkshire 

 12,045; Cornwall 10,575; Middlesex 7,158; Glou- 

 cestershire 4,170; Somersetshire 3,628; Durham 

 3,308; Cumberland 3,047; Devonshire 2,359; 

 Cheshire 2,341 ; Warwickshire 2,050: Surrey 2,039. 

 None of the remaining twenty-eight counties eon- 

 tain 2000 members ; and Wales possesses only 1864. 

 In Scotland, the number of persons belonging to 

 Temperance Societies amounted, in 1830, to 25,478, 

 and in 1832, to 52,017. In the more recent reports 

 which we have seen, the number of members is not 

 stated, and a somewhat gloomy view is given of 

 the prosperity of the cause. Of late years, societies 

 have started on the principle of total abstinence, not 

 from ardent spirits only, but from all wines and fer- 

 mented liquors. The members of this extreme 

 class, adopting a slang phrase, call themselves, ab- 

 surdly enough. Tee-totallers. Of their numbers we 

 have no account, but we suspect their principle in- 

 terferes too violently with the habits and appetites 

 of the people ever to become permanently popular. 



TEMPERATURE ; a definite degree of sensible 

 heat, as measured by the thermometer. Thus we 

 say a high temperature, and a low temperature, 

 to denote a manifest intensity of heat or cold. Ac- 

 cording to Biot, temperatures are the different 

 energies of caloric in different circumstances. Dif- 

 ferent parts of the earth's surface are exposed, as is 

 well known, to different degrees of heat, depending 

 upon the latitude and local circumstances. In 

 Egypt it never freezes, and in some parts of Siberia 

 it never thaws. In the former country, the average 

 state of the thermometer is about 72*. The fol- 

 lowing table exhibits a general view of the varia- 

 tion of heat resulting from difference of latitude : 



Limd. 



86 30' 



59 56 



48 51 



41 54 



30 03' 



20 00 



00 00 



Wadso. Lapland 



St PetPrsburff 



Paris 



Rome 



Cairo 



On>an 



Ocean . 



M. Temperitirt 



36" 

 . 40 



54 

 . 61 



73 



. 7f* 

 81 



The annual variation of heat is inconsiderable 

 between the tropics, and becomes greater and 

 greater as we approach the poles. This arises from 

 the combination of two causes, namely, the gi eater 

 or less directness of the sun's rays, and the duration 

 of their action, or the length of time from sunrise 

 to sunset. These two causes act together in the 

 same place ; that is, the rays of the sun are most 

 direct always when the days are longest, or at the 

 solstice. But while (the season being the same) 

 the rays become more and more oblique, and con- 

 sequently more feeble as we increase our latitude, 

 the days become longer, and the latter very nearly 

 makes up for the deficiency of the former, so that 

 the greatest heat in all latitudes is nearly the same. 

 On the other hand, the two causes of cold con- 

 spire. At the same time that the rays of the sun 

 fall more obliquely, as we increase our latitude, 

 the days become shorter and shorter at the cold 

 season ; and accordingly the different parallels are 

 exposed to very unequal degrees of cold: wliile 

 tropical regions exhibit a variation of only a few 

 degrees, the highest habitable latitudes undergo a 

 change amounting to 140. Both heat and cold 

 continue to increase long after the causes producing 

 them have passed their maximum state. Thus the 

 greatest cold is ordinarily about the last of January, 

 and the greatest heat about the last of July. The 

 sun is generally considered the only original source 

 of heat. Its rays are sent to the earth just as the 

 rays of a common fire are thrown upon a body 

 placed before it j and, after being heated to a 

 certain point, the quantity lost by radiation equals 

 the quantity received, and the mean temperature 

 remains the same, subject only to certain fluctua- 

 tions depending upon the season and other tempo- 

 rary and local causes. According to this view of 

 the subject, the heat that belongs to the interior 

 of the earth has found its way there from the sur- 

 face, and is derived from the same general source, 

 the sun ; and in support of this position is urged 

 the well-known fact, that, below eighty or one 

 hundred feet, the constant temperature, with cnly 

 a few exceptions, is found to be the mean of that 

 at the surface in all parts of the earth. But how 

 are we to explain the remarkable cases in which 

 the heat has been found to increase, instead of de- 

 creasing, as we descend ? We are told that in the 

 instance of mines, so often quoted to prove an 

 independent central fire, the extraordinary heat, 

 apparently increasing as we descend, may be satis- 

 factorily accounted for in a simpler way: 1. It 

 may be partly received from the persons employed 

 in working the mines. 2. The lights that are re- 

 quired in these dark regions afford another source 

 of heat. 3. But the chief cause is supposed to be 

 the condensation of the air, which is well known 

 to produce a high degree of heat. The condensa- 

 tion, moreover, becoming greater and greater ac- 

 cording to the depth, the heat ought, on this 

 account, to increase as we descend ; and as a con- 

 stant supply of fresh air from above is required t 

 maintain the lights, as well as for the purposes of 

 respiration, at the rate of about a gallon a minute 

 for each common-sized light and for each workman, 

 it is not surprising that the temperature of deep 

 mines should be found to exceed that of the surface 

 in the same latitude. This explanation of the 

 phenomenon seems to derive confirmation from the 

 circumstance that the high temperature observed 

 is said to belong only to those mines that are 

 actually worked, and that it ceasts when they are 



